Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the (a) oral evidence from the Home Secretary to the Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee of 27 October 2021 on the proportion of people arriving illegally in the UK via small boats in the previous 12 months who were economic migrants and (b) immigration statistics published on 26 May 2022 relating to the proportion of positive asylum claims among young men aged 18 to 29, if she will clarify the proportion of single men aged 18 to 29 who arrived illegally in the UK via small boats in the 12 months to 31 March 2022 who were (i) granted (A) refugee status and (B) humanitarian protection and (ii) identified as economic migrants.

People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach rather than making dangerous and illegal crossings. For those with specific protection needs which mean they can no longer stay in a host country, the UK works with the UNHCR to offer a safe and legal route to resettlement in the UK.

Our New Plan for Immigration will break the business model of international criminal gangs by making the UK a less attractive destination for illegal migrants. It will furthermore differentiate between those who arrive here through safe and legal routes and those who seek to circumvent this system. It will also speed up the asylum claims system so that we can separate the genuine asylum seekers from economic migrants quickly.

The overall grant rate can vary for several reasons, including the protection needs of those who claim asylum in the UK, along with operational resourcing and policy decisions. Grant rates vary considerably by nationality as the protection needs of specific groups or individuals differ, usually depending on the situation in their home country.

The Home Office are unable to state the proportion of single men aged 18 to 29 who arrived illegally in the UK by small boats in the 12 months to 31 March 2022 who were granted refugee status and humanitarian protection and identified as economic migrants as this information is not published or held in a reportable format.

The latest data on illegal migration can be found at: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The latest data on asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement can be found at: List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)